Our People

On the Spot: Dee Godwin

Dee Godwin just celebrated her 25th year with Classic Cleaners in September! Dee has been with Classic Cleaners for 25 of the 27 years Classic Cleaners has been in business so she’s met a lot of people, had some memorable experiences and seen many changes in the dry cleaning business. Most notably, her pay rate! When Dee started with Classic Cleaners in September 1987, the average pay rate was around $3.85 an hour!

We spoke with Dee about her favorite type of challenge on the job, removing spots, in “The World According to Dee” blog post in 2010. This month we thought it’d be fun to put her on the spot again in honor of her 25 years with Classic Cleaners.

Dee (full name Delores Ann Godwin) oversees the employees at 9 of our 17 stores in Indianapolis, Carmel and Fishers . Each day Dee travels to and from her many stores and what she enjoys most about her day to day activities is meeting our customers. If you’ve ever met Dee, you will notice that she is always smiling so it’s no surprise that the first thing she notices about other people are their smiles.

Dee claims she doesn’t have a special talent but she’s known for her ability to remove troublesome spots on clothing with her favorite tool, the spotting gun. Her most memorable experience over all the years was when she was able to remove spots from one of our customer’s wedding gown days before her wedding.

Dee appreciates how the dry cleaning business has changed with regard to newer and better cleaning fluids and the more high tech equipment available for cleaning garments as compared to 25 years ago.

On a personal level, we learned if Dee could be given ANY gift, it would be the gift of youth. What she remembers most about being a kid is she was always playing, especially with her favorite toys, her dolls. These days for fun she reads, does crossword puzzles and collects Lladro figurines. She’s seen every episode of The Golden Girls and says it’s her favorite show of all time. She could watch it over and over again.

Married to her Husband, James, for almost 50 years, Dee would like to someday vacation to Israel with him.

Happy Silver Anniversary, Dee! Thank you so much for your dedication to your career at Classic Cleaners!

Chris Gowan

Born in Beech Grove, route driver, Chris Gowan, started working for Indianapolis based Classic Cleaners over 13 years ago in April of 1999. He coaches inner city youth baseball in his spare time and what he enjoys most about working for Classic Cleaners is the Customers.

Continue to read below to get to know a little more about Chris and his important role at Classic Cleaners. Even though he’s not smiling below, he’s super nice.

Q: What is the first thing you notice about people?
A: Their smile.

Q: Do you have a special talent?
A: Coaching baseball.

Q: What’s the #1 most played song on your iPod?
A: Everybody Talks by Neon Trees.

Q: What’s worst/most embarrassing CD/Album you’ve ever owned and do you still have it?
A: Vanilla Ice – and NO.

Q: What do you miss about being a kid?
A: Not having a care in the world.

Q: If you could witness any event past, present or future, what would it be?
A: Woodstock.

Q: If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would it be and who would it be with?
A: Hawaii with my Wife

Q: If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do?
A: Invest for my Children’s future.

Thank you, Chris, for answering our questions and helping our Customers get to know you better. Did you know your boss is probably going to read this? Thank you for safely picking up and delivering our Customer’s wardrobe and household items to and from their front doors week after week!

On the Spot: Julieta Martinez

Meet Julieta Martinez, our shirt laundry production supervisor at Classic Cleaner’s main operations plant on Bash Road. She celebrated her 13th year with Classic Cleaners on May 9th this year.

Get to know her via our recent Q-&-A session. You’ll find she’s a diverse reader with aspirations to write her own book some day.

Q: If you had to change your full name, what would you call yourself ?
A: I’m okay with my name but hardly anybody calls me that so if I had to change my name, I would definitely make it shorter from Julietta to Julie. Everybody already calls me that anyway.

Q: Where were you born?
A: I was born in the capital of Mexico, Mexico City

Q: What is your favorite kind of challenge on the job?
A: My favorite kind of challenge is meeting the daily requirements on time and making sure each and every shirt looks its best for our customers.

Q: What is your favorite tool at Classic Cleaners and why?
A: My favorite tool at Classic Cleaners are the washing machines. They can wash anywhere between 150 to 180 shirts in one load. They are about 4 times the size of the one I have at home and I couldn’t imagine Classic Cleaners without them.

Q: What do you enjoy most about working at Classic Cleaners?
A: I enjoy motivating myself and my team to work together and complete our tasks effectively and efficiently. I take pride knowing that by getting each shirt to look its best, it brings out the best in our customers.

Q: What is your favorite type of fabric and why?
A: Cotton is my favorite type of fabric because it’s easy to treat and press. Every time we finish a cotton shirt, it always looks brand new.

Q: What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
A: I enjoy reading in my spare time. I read all genres of books and also magazines but only in Spanish because I understand it better since it’s my first language. The last book I read was the autobiography of Hilary Clinton and right now I’m reading The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain.

Q: If you were a toy, what toy would you be?
A: If I were a toy I think I would be a bouncy ball. I would enjoy being thrown into the air and bouncing on the way back down.

Q: If you were asked to speak to a graduating high school class, what would you say?
A: Congratulations for all your hard work and effort. You have taken the first step to the start of your lives. When they asked what you wanted to be – you imagined, dreamed and dared to dream big. Dare to be different. Dare to be the first to start a new trend. Take hold of your dreams, seize them, and make them a reality.

Q: If you had a time machine and could be transported to any time, the past or the future, what time and place would you choose and why?
A: I’ve always been a fan of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. If I had a time machine, I would travel into the pioneering days when times were much simpler. Tames free of pesticides and all of the different types of pollutions that exit nowadays. If I had a time machine, I would travel to a time where people lived more with nature like in Little House on the Prairie.

Q: If you had to spend 100 days on a deserted island, what five things would you take with you and why?
A:
1. Bottled water since we can’t live without water and salty water causes severe dehydration.
2. Canned food so it may last 100 days and not spoil.
3. Books to enjoy the time away.
4. A tent to take shelter from the rain, wind and sun. It would also help trap my body heat at night when I sleep to keep me warm.
5. A journal with a pen to write the book I have always wanted to write.

Thank you, Julieta for answering our questions and helping our Customers get to know you better. Who knew you could launder 180 shirts at one time?! Imagine how quickly we all could do our laundry with one of those huge washing machines!! You and your team do a wonderful job on our Customer’s shirts each day.

On the Spot: Devin Garner

Meet Devin Garner, our Customer Service Representative at Classic Cleaner’s 96th and Allisonville Road store. She’s coming up on her one year anniversary this fall and we’re happy to have her on our team.

Get to know her via our recent Q-&-A session. You’ll notice that she’s got a fun wit about her and some of her answers are pretty amusing.

Q: If you had to change your full name, what would you call yourself ?
A: Susan Deschain

Q: Where were you born?
A: Indianapolis, IN

Q: What is your favorite kind of challenge on the job?
A: Keeping the customers happy is the best challenge this job offers.

Q: What is your favorite tool at Classic Cleaners and why?
A: Our Heat Seal machines. It’s kind of fun to play with a 400 degree heat plate every day and not get burned

Q: What do you enjoy most about working at Classic Cleaners?
A: Meeting all the personalities that walk through the door because what you see on the surface is usually not what’s underneath.

Q: What is your favorite type of fabric and why?
A: Cotton. It’s simple, comfortable, and soft, and I don’t panic if something is spilled on it.

Q: What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
A: I’m a pretty avid reader. Avid to the point of carrying a book with me everywhere I go. I usually read them one at a time but I’ve gotten up to reading 7 at once before. I’m a little addicted.

Q: If you were a toy, what toy would you be?
A: A Frisbee because who wouldn’t want to fly every once in a while?

Q: If you were asked to speak to a graduating high school class, what would you say?
A: Never give up on yourself. Absolutely everything is possible and right at your fingertips, all you need to have is the drive to do it, and everybody has the drive, some people just haven’t unlocked it yet.

Q: If you had a time machine and could be transported to any time, the past or the future, what time and place would you choose and why?
A: I’d probably go 15 years into the future. I already know what my past holds and I don’t need to go back. However, going to the future and getting to see what’s in store, it’s almost like getting the opportunity to see what fate has in store for you and maybe getting to change it.

Q: If you had to spend 100 days on a deserted island, what five things would you take with you and why?
A:
1. Sunscreen because I burn pretty easily.
2. Water. I don’t think I’d have the patience to boil salt water and collect the condensation to drink.
3. A toothbrush. Clean teeth are happy teeth, after all!
4. A copy of “The Zombie Survival Guide” by Max Brooks. I mean, what if I get back and the zombie apocalypse has happened? I need to be ready.
5. An Axe. It’s good for chopping wood, hunting, and protection.

And, Devin, if needed, you could use that axe to fight off the zombies when you get back, we’re sure. Thanks for letting our Customers get to know you and for doing such a great job each day. Stop in and say hi to Devin next time you’re in the Castleton area.

On the Spot: Theresa Golish

Meet Theresa Golish, our stain removal specialist. Theresa celebrates her 6th year with Classic Cleaners this May. When your stained items come into our plant, Theresa is the individual who diligently works to get every spot out so your item looks new again.

Get to know her via our recent Q-&-A session. You’ll notice that she’s one of our most loyal employees and she’s devoted to her family.

Q: If you had to change your full name, what would you call yourself ?
A: Jasmine Jewel. I think every girl likes flowers and jewelry (and it’s what I named my Daughter).

Q: Where were you born?
A: Anderson, IN

Q: What is your favorite kind of challenge on the job?
A: Taking an item that looks “trashed” and making it look brand new.

Q: What is your favorite tool at Classic Cleaners and why?
A: We call it a Susie but it’s called a Form Finisher. Once an item is cleaned, this tool makes finishing so much easier. It steams, drys and shapes the garment to like-new condition.

Q: What do you enjoy most about working at Classic Cleaners?
A: Working 5 days a week and having Holidays off.

Q: What is your favorite type of fabric and why?
A: Polyester because it’s the easiest material to remove spots from and it’s nice to wear.

Q: What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
A: Sunbathing, riding Harleys and having bonfires with my Family & Friends.

Q: If you were a toy, what toy would you be?
A: Tinkerbell because it’s my Daughter’s favorite character.

Q: If you were asked to speak to a graduating high school class, what would you say?
A: Choose a career you’re going to be happy with – not just for financial reasons. Choose something you’re going to enjoy each day. Remember that even when something doesn’t go your way, life goes on and things can change for the better.

Q: If you had a time machine and could be transported to any time, the past or the future, what time and place would you choose and why?
A: 1990 was a good year. I was younger and had my whole life ahead of me. I love my family but back then, I was old enough to be responsible but young enough to be more carefree.

Q: If you had to spend 100 days on a deserted island, what five things would you take with you and why?
A:
1. Toothbrush – I couldn’t stand not being able to brush my teeth.
2. Soap.
3. Deodorant.
4. Shampoo – I like to be clean.
5. Matches for my bonfires and to cook food.

Thank you, Theresa, for letting our Customers get to know you and for a great job de-spotting our favorite clothing items!